[Congressional Record: October 29, 2000 (Senate)]
[Page S11332-S11334]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr29oc00-87]
WORK OF THE SENATE
Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I thank the Senator from Nevada. I
commend my friend and colleague, the Senator from Illinois, in raising
these issues. I commend him because he has presented the facts to the
Senate.
We never had an opportunity to vote on the 1996 Immigration Act. To
represent that we did is not stating clearly the facts. That was
wrapped into a conference report on an entirely different
appropriation, which was a take-it-or-leave-it, after the legislation
passed, I believe, 97-3, with strong bipartisan support, and it was
after days of hearing in the Senate that the Republicans took that and
added these provisions, some provisions which the Senator has
mentioned.
This figure of 4 million is a traditional way of distorting and
misrepresenting a position, and then disagreeing with it. That is
poppycock. It is red herring. The Senator from Utah ought to know
better than that because that is completely inaccurate.
I can understand the frustration that many feel about this issue, and
I commend the President for attempting to try and deal with it.
When we had this Latino Fairness Act, two prominent Republicans, the
Senator from Florida and the chairman of the immigration committee,
made statements in favor of the position outlined by the Senator from
Illinois. They were prepared. They understood that there may have been
differences here, but they spoke to it.
The President is in a commendable position. I thank him for his
leadership in this. I again thank the Senator from Illinois for
bringing this matter to the attention of the Senate. I am very hopeful
that we will stay the course on this until we get some action on this,
another proposal that has a moratorium on the deportation of
individuals, which has been passed through the House on the suspension
calendar which addresses one of the regrettable aspects of the 1996
act. That has the bipartisan support of Chairman Hyde of the Judiciary
Committee, and Lamar Smith from the immigration committee, which
virtually passed unanimously in the House. I am hopeful we will pass
that, as well.
Halloween is here. I am watching the clock that is over the Senate
right now. It has not been corrected. I don't know whether the goblins
are out here, as well, but Halloween is here. While the Nation observes
this occasion only once a year, for this Republican Congress, every day
is Halloween. This is the Halloween Congress: lavishing treats on the
wealthy and cruel tricks on average families.
If he is elected, Governor Bush will borrow the idea and have a year-
round Halloween White House in which powerful special interests hold
sway and working families are left out and left behind. He said no to
working families in Texas and he wants to say no to average Americans
for 4 more years this time from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He wants to
say no to Social Security, no to Medicare, no to a fair prescription
drug benefit for senior citizens, no to the Patients' Bill of Rights,
no to improving the public schools, no to health care for uninsured
children, no to fair tax cuts for average families, no to fighting hate
crimes, no to fairness for lawful immigrants, no to gun safety laws.
There is no clearer example of how our Republican friends have
kowtowed to powerful special interests than the tax bill before the
Senate. Rather than meet the urgent priorities of the American people,
Republicans have spent the past 2 weeks huddled behind closed doors to
produce a quarter-trillion-dollar tax package tilted overwhelmingly
toward the powerful and not toward the average families.
In fact, the top 5 percent of taxpayers will receive a greater share
of the tax breaks under this Republican tax scheme than the bottom 80
percent of all taxpayers combined. There is little to distinguish this
plan from the previous discredited proposals by the Republican
leadership in Congress and by George W. Bush. In many ways the items in
this package are even more cynical.
The Republicans know that millions of Americans are deeply concerned
[[Page S11333]]
about the lack of health insurance for low- and middle-income families.
So this bill lowers the cost of health insurance for wealthier people
who are already insured. Madam President, 95 percent of the people who
will benefit under this bill in terms of the health insurance benefits
are individuals who are already insured, not any expansion for those
who have no health insurance today.
Republicans know that millions of Americans are concerned about
saving enough for retirement, so this bill fattens the pension
opportunities available to the highest level corporate executives.
Republicans know that millions of children and working families are
having trouble feeding their families even in this time of prosperity.
So this bill increases the tax breaks that corporations can claim for
three-martini lunches, dinners, and other entertainment.
Republicans know that millions of families struggle to care for
elderly or disabled family members at home, so their tax bill lowers
the cost of luxury nursing facilities for wealthy families.
Millions of low-wage workers are depending on Congress to raise the
minimum wage this year before we adjourn. But Republicans seem to care
so little about the minimum wage that they have repealed it for 6
months of next year in their tax bill. It was, apparently, an
inadvertent mistake, or perhaps a Freudian slip. But if they had worked
with Democrats and shown us the provision, we could have prevented such
an embarrassing mistake. An increase in the minimum wage may be an
afterthought for the Republican leadership, but it means food on the
table and clothes for the children for the 12 million workers who
benefit. To eliminate the minimum wage, even for 6 months, would be a
disaster for these families.
Here we are in the final hours of this Congress and still we have
been denied the opportunity to even vote whether this body thinks we
should vote for a 50-cent increase in the minimum wage today--which is
now $5.15 an hour--and 50 cents next year, at the time we have the
greatest economic expansion in the history of this country.
On the other hand, under Republican leadership the Congress raised
its salary by $4,800 last year and again by $3,600 this year. Congress
made sure nothing got in the way. Congressional pay was not eliminated
for 6 months. Congress did not say Congressional salaries would be
increased only if accompanied by $100 billion in tax breaks. Isn't that
interesting? Our Republican leaders have told us yes, you can have
raises, rather than the people who are going to be affected by an
increase in the minimum wage if we have $73 billion in tax breaks. We
did not have that kind of requirement when we increased our own
benefits, but evidently for the hardest working families, many of those
who have two or three jobs to try to make ends meet, that is the block
that is put in front of them.
Madam President, 535 Senators and Representatives received a raise
without a hitch. The 12 million Americans who would receive a raise in
the minimum wage deserve the same. It is a children's issue, a families
issue, a civil rights issue.
I hope this Republican Congress will act to pass the minimum wage
before adjourning this year.
Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield for a question?
Mr. KENNEDY. Yes, I will be happy to.
Mr. REID. Isn't it true, all over this country there are State and
minimum wage laws that are much higher than $5.15 an hour? It is not as
if Congress is breaking some new ground. The fact is, in several States
they have a higher minimum wage than we are trying to advocate; is that
not true?
Mr. KENNEDY. The Senator is correct. In a number of communities we
have living wage regions, in many of the major cities of this country,
which have been successful. But there are those, including Governor
Bush, whose position is to say the States ought to be able to opt out
on the minimum wage. When you realize the minimum wage in the State of
Texas is $3.35 an hour, when we have seen the prosperity which is
across this country, that raises serious questions about the real
interest in any working families.
I want to take the time remaining to talk about two public policy
areas, first on education and then on health care. If Governor Bush's
record in Texas is any indication, average Americans, who work day
after day to make ends meet, will be an afterthought in a Bush
administration.
The Republican Congress says he has the answers to education. He
calls his record in Texas an education miracle. But if you look at the
record, it is more of an education mirage than an education miracle.
Under Governor Bush, in 1998, according to the National Center for
Education Statistics, Texas ranks 45th in the Nation in high school
completion rates; 71 percent of high school dropouts in Texas are
minorities; Hispanic students in Texas drop out at more than twice the
rate of white students in the State. So if education is the biggest
civil rights issue in America, as Governor Bush proclaimed at the
Presidential debates, he flunked the test in Texas.
Last August, the College Boards reported that nationally, from 1997
to the year 2000, SAT scores have increased. But in Texas, they have
decreased. In 1997, Texas was 21 points below the SAT national average.
By 2000, the gap had grown by 26 points.
Then, last Thursday, Governor Bush heard more bad news. The Rand
Corporation released an education bombshell that raises serious
questions about the validity of gains in student achievements in Texas
claimed by the Governor. The Rand bombshell was all the more
embarrassing because in August Governor Bush said:
Our State has done the best, not measured by us, but
measured by the Rand Corporation who take an objective look
at how States are doing when it comes to education.
Those are the Governor's words. Clearly, at that time Governor Bush
trusted the conclusions made by the Rand Corporation because he was
referring to a Rand report that looks at scores in Texas from 1990 to
1996. In fact, Senator Hutchison cited those findings on the floor of
the Senate on Thursday.
But most of the years covered by the earlier Rand report were before
Bush became Governor. The new Rand report released earlier this week
analyzes the scores from 1994 to 1998, when George W. Bush was the
Governor. The achievement gap in Texas is not closing, it is widening.
What is the Governor's solution? Test, test, tests and more tests.
In August, Governor Bush said:
Without comprehensive regular testing, without knowing if
children are really learning, accountability is a myth and
standards are just slogans.
We all know tests are an important indication of student achievement,
but the Rand study questions the validity of the Texas State test
because Governor Bush's education program was teaching to the test
instead of genuinely helping children to learn.
These are the results. We find out the objective standards, whether
we take it from the Rand Corporation or the National Center for
Education Statistics. When it was favorable to Texas, it was quoted ad
infinitum by strong supporters of the Governor. But, those successes
applied to the education policies that were developed prior to the time
the Governor became Governor.
If we want a true solution to improving education, we should look at
the success of States such as North Carolina, which is improving
education the right way: Investing in schools, improving teacher
quality, expanding afterschool programs--all in order to produce better
results for students. The Bush plan mandates more tests for children,
but it does nothing to ensure that schools actually improve and
children actually learn.
We know immediate help for low-performing schools is essential. We
know we can turn around failing schools when the Federal Government,
States, parents, and local schools work together as partners to provide
the needed investments.
In North Carolina, low-performing schools are given technical
assistance from special State teams who provide targeted support to
turn around low-performing schools. In the 1997-1998 school year, 15
North Carolina schools received intensive help from these State-
assisted teams. In August 1998, the State reported most of these
schools achieved exemplary growth and not one school remained in the
low-performing category. Last year, 11 North Carolina schools received
similar help; 9 met or exceeded their targets.
[[Page S11334]]
That is the kind of aid to education that works--not just tests, but
realistic action to bring about realistic change for students'
education. And, correspondingly, the test scores for the students in
North Carolina have risen 10 points above the national average during
this period.
The Democratic proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act incorporate the proven approaches that have demonstrated
better results for children. But the Republican leadership has blocked
any opportunity to debate education. The Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, for the first time in 35 years, will not be acted on by
Congress.
The Vice President, Al Gore, supports programs to improve public
schools which have been proven effective. The best example we have is
North Carolina. Those programs are tried and tested and demonstrated to
be successful. That is what we believe ought to be done in the future
for public education in this country. Yet those programs that have been
tried and tested in the State of Texas are not improving education for
children. Education is a prime issue for families, and we ought to look
at the results. When you look at them carefully, you have to realize
that what has been outlined as an educational miracle by the Governor
just does not measure up--it's just an education mirage.
Instead of taking steps that will work, Governor Bush abandons the
low-performing schools. He proposes a private school voucher plan that
drains needed resources from troubled schools and traps low-income
children in them. In the Vietnam war, it was said we had to destroy
some villages in order to save them. That is what Governor Bush has in
store for failing schools: a Vietnam war strategy that will destroy
them instead of save them.
Parents want smaller class sizes where teachers can maintain order
and give one-to-one attention students need to learn. Parents want a
qualified teacher in every classroom in America. Parents want modern
schools that are safe learning environments for their children. GAO
found that $112 billion was necessary for our schools to meet health
and safety standards and environmental standards, to make critical
repairs, and to ensure they are wired for modern technologies. That is
why we want strong support for our school modernization and
construction program that the Republican leadership has consistently
opposed.
Here we are 4 weeks into the next fiscal year. Republicans have said
that education is their top priority, but instead, they have made
education their last priority.
Parents and students alike want an increase in Pell grants to help
young people afford the college education they need to compete in the
new economy.
The vast majority of Americans want us to address these challenges,
and Al Gore and the Democrats in Congress will do just that. We will
continue to fight hard for education priorities that parents and local
schools are demanding.
There is much good news about education across the nation. More
students are taking the SATs so they can gain entrance into college. We
see these numbers going up every year.
More and more students are taking advanced math and science classes
in precalculus, calculus, and physics. We know there are schools in
some parts of the country where the children cannot even read and write
an essay. We ought to be doing something about it. The Republicans
condemn those schools, but they have no plan to improve them.
Finally, the SAT math scores are the highest in 30 years. The SATs
are taken by young people who want to go on to college. Those who are
taking math now--many of the children who are taking the advanced
courses are going to do better. That is what we want, isn't it? We want
all these indicators to go in the right direction--better results for
children.
As we come into these final weeks, parents ought to look at the
Members of Congress, the Members of the Senate, and the Presidential
candidates and where they stand on education. Democrats and Al Gore
stand for an investment in children that will produce better results:
smaller class sizes, a qualified teacher in every classroom in America
in 4 years, a strong downpayment on meeting the nation's school
modernization and construction needs, more afterschool programs to keep
children safe and out of trouble and give them extra time for learning,
too.
We should support these policies to improve public schools, and we
should oppose policies by the Republican leadership and Governor Bush
to abandond public schools. The nation's children deserve no less.
____________________